The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By: Shirley Linder, Quill Editor
At the March 1st and special March 3rd Village of Stronghurst board meetings, the evenings were spent discussing the problem of keeping enough water supply for the residents.
The problem with a low table of water the pumps are not pumping the 100 gallon of water per minute it needs to keep the tower up to capacity.
The average use of water per day by residents is around 74,000 gallon. In the summer this raises to 90-95,000 gallon per day.
Several leaks in the past couple of weeks has been discovered and fixed, helping eliminate some of the problem.
A discussion was held on hauling in water, which the EPA, does not approve of, but the engineer thinks in an emergency situation they would go along with it.
From Monday until Wednesday the situation had improved somewhat and the pump was able to shut off occasionally as opposed to running 24 hours per day, as it had been.
West Central FS representatives attended the meeting, as they obtain 20,000-30,000 gallon of water per day for spraying. With the situation as it is now, this is not possible. However, they could get their water from the deep well at the fire station. The only problem is how to get it from the well to the station.
Wednesday the FS representatives had reported their business had found a 30,000 gallon tank they could put the water in. In cooperation with the village, they will somehow find a way to get the water to this tank, either by using a hose, or by installing an underground pipe.
The Village agreed they will supply the water to the FS Convenient store as they always have, but FS Agriculture needs for their farm spraying will have to come from the deep well water.
The final decisions came down to the following:
The new Water Emergency Committee was approved Wednesday evening and consists of Water Superintendent Ronnie Gittings, Mayor Brendan Schaley and Village Clerk Hollie Allen.
In other business on Monday the board heard:
The police report for February: 57.5 hours worked; 10 training hours; 154 miles on squad car; 1 traffic stop with verbal warning; 8 service calls, 1 assist with Henderson County; 10 business courtesy checks.
In the financial report the village was $16,291.36 in the hole due to paying insurance for a year, the attorney's legal fees, and a water main replacement.
Under public comment, David Knutstrom approached the board regarding water drainage along his street. He was told there was to be a Drainage Committee meeting to look at some of these problems. Ronnie Gittings added that Matt Hicks could shape up the area to help the water to run better.
Knutstrom also addressed the issue of vulgar language in the village park across from his home and asked if individuals could be banned.
The attorney said no. There are forms at village hall people can register complaints on infractions of the rules in the park. The police would then follow up on the complaint. Then it would go to the attorney.
The next board meeting will be held April 5th at 6:00 p.m.